Collapsible storage file casing



Dec.l 5, 1939.

S. SCIHE|NMANv El' AL.

vCOIJLAPSIBLE STORAGE FILE CASING Filed April 3, 1935 2 SheetSv-Sheet vl llll Il T ||||L v ...llllllll w m -H|||V|J lm, v H U1 H|H 1 w W, 1 l nu .h Wl .w 9 0 1 M/ Il V: f wldlll m W I MNHN I I I I I I l l I I I l I I i I l I l I I Ihl vm MW. ,1b/AH |IIM|INUIIIIIUUMHHNU|||||VM||WM|HHIVIMMHHI I I l v l I l I l I l I I l I I I l I l l I l I l l I 6 5 5 M M 5 Y .l M /v 2 ||\|11| |w||l |||\v A ATTORNEY Dec- 5, 1939- s. scHElNMAN ET AL. 2,181,918

COLLAPSIBLE STORAGE FILE CASING Filed April 1935 2 Asheets--sheet 2 ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 5,1939v UNITED fs'rATEs PATENT oFFlcE counrslnm s'roaaon ma cAsmG sol scherm, wr@ ruim, ma .mob msnm,

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Application l April 8, 1935, Serial No. 214.518

s claims- (ci. zza-41) y 'I'he present invention relates to collapsible storage illes which are adapted to be shipped in collapsed or knocked-down condition, of the type consisting of a shell or casing and a drawer member movable therein, and more specifically, to the construction of the casing member of such ille.

It is an object ofthe invention to provide a storage ille casing member which isccmposed, for example, of paper orother light and inexpensive fibrous or other material but is reinforced in such manner that it can withstand the" weight of a number of filled storage les stacked above it.

In various collapsible storage les now 'on the market, the end wall of the casing is'made up of two or more ilaps extending from the side, top

and bottom walls of the casing and' connected together by means of a paper or cloth tape. Qther partsof the casing, particularly the adjoining free longitudinal edges at the side, top or bottom walls, are likewise secured together by glued paper or cloth tape. We have found, however, that such tape, or rather the glue thereof, attracts mice, roaches and other vermin which eat the glue and also the tape and thereby damage thev It n a further object pf the invention to pm" vide an improved reinforced construction forthe rear end portion of the casing and particularly oi' the rear end wall portion of the casing whileyet m permitting the casing to be collapsed for shipping purposes or for storage prior to use. In the pre ferred form of the invention, the rear end wall is hinged to one of the other walls of the 'casing and may in part consist of a section of paper 45 forming a continuation of the wall to which it ,is

pivoted. The pivoted wall may be provided with means, such as metallic channel members, which facilitate interengagement of the end wall with the other walls of the casing. The end'wall and 50 at least one of the other walls may be.v and preferably are provided with locking devices for holiiql ingythe walls in assembled. condition. The end wall may consist of one or" more plies of sheet metal or it may consist, as already indicated, of a s; ply of` paper 1011111118 a wntmuation of one'lot lof the casing.

the side, top or bottom `walls ofthe casing and covered upon one or both sides with sheet metal. The end wall may consist also of a panel of paper having a frame of sheet metal or other reinforcin g means. In any event, the construction of 5 the end wall is such, that it possesses adequate strength and rigidity to withstand very large vertical loads and together with the metallic reinforcements is permanently attached to the body i 10 -It is one of the features ot lthe present invention that although the rear wall assembly presents a rigid structure, it nevertheless does not interfere with the collapsible character of the casing. As already stated, the end wall is. at- 15 tached to one of the other walls of the casing so as to pivot thereon and thereby be capable of being moved into the plane of the collapsed casing. Where the end wall includes a paper panel forming a continuation of one of the other walls of the casing, the linelof connection between such panel and wall may form the fulcrumfor such wall: where, however. the end wall contains no paper section integral with the rest of the casing suitable means may be provided which enable such wall to be swung into and out of assembled conditon. Thus, theI end wall may be provided with a metallic member which is attached to one of the walls of the casing. as by riveting, pinching etc. and the end wall may pivot either about such metallic portion or about the portion of the casing wall adjacent to the line of connection with such metallic member. y The end wall is thus permanently attached to the end of,4 the casing, loss of parts, which is. frequently the a5 case when reinforcing members are supplied in To provide rigidity at the front of the casing 5 we may make use of the metallic angular members disclosed in our prior application Ber. No.y 666,895. These angle members are so mounted as to pivot upon one of the walls of the casing and to t into channel grooves or other recesses provided inreinforcing members attached to one or more of the other walls. In this way a very rigid construction is provided at the four oor-,- .ners ofthe open end of the casing. lWhere the angle members are'pivoted the horizontal 5s walls of the casing and t into grooves in rein-y forcing members upon the vertical walls of the casing for taking up vertical loads, we prefer to make the endsoi' the top and bottom angle members meet and engage each other in such grooves so that vertical stresses can be transmitted directly from the'vertical leg of the upper member or members to the lower member or members. In thisway,A the angle members not only stiften the casing at the corners, but assist the' vertical reinforcing members in taking up the vertical load. An important feature of our ille casing is that although metallic reinforcing members are permanently secured to the front and rear end portions of the casing, the latter can be readily collapsed to the atcondition, thereby Y greatly reducing the cost of transportation and storage and eliminating the annoyance of attaching separate metal parts to the casing during go its erection.

bottom of the casing and cannot be reached byl mice, roaches, etc. The longitudinal tapel may, however, be entirely eliminated by connecting the free longitudinal'edges by means of metallic or other connecting ribbon or plate. If desired, the longitudinal edges may be connected at one side by means of the metallic plate and upon the other by the paper or cloth tape.

In a further development 'of our invention they just-mentioned metallic plate is employed also to form a supporting rail for the drawer member of the le to reduce the friction incident to the movement of the drawer member, -the metallic plate serving to space the bottom of the drawer memberi'rom the upper face of the bottom Wall oi' the casing. In order to provide a more stable support for the drawer member, we prefer to provide two such rails one upon each side of the longitudinal center of the bottom wall of the casing. In such construction, the free longitudinal edges of the casing are made to meet to one side of the central longitudinal axis, one ofthe rails serving to connect such free edges while the other rail may serve only the purpose of supporting the drawer member. c j The invention will be further described with the aid of the` accompanying drawings forming pm of this speciea-tion and illustrating a preu ferr-,ed embodimentof the invention; in said draw- Fig. iisatopplanviewofthe casinginliar'-v tially collapsed condition;

Fig. 2 is an end view of the structure shown F18. 3 is a the assembled Fig. 4 is a viewsimllart'oFlg. 3 but lookingfrom Y.

therearofthecasing,and

perspective'view from in front of 65 Figs. 5 and 6 are enlarged sections taken'alo'ng` the'lines l-l ofFlg. 4 and 3 3 of Fig. 3 respec l tively.

y Referring to the drawings. the men-uber` is composed generally of a top wall I0, bottom' 70 wall Inside walls I2 and I3, and an endwall Il. The walls i8, Il, I2 and AI3 are formed of-an integral sheet of relatively light, inexpensive fibrous material', simu as corrugated paperber board, etc., and are provided with `scorings IlV u along which the wallsmav. be folded, mii. Q01- in Fig. 3. In this way vertical stresses are translapsed for shipment, or for storage in the warehouse, as indicated in Figs. 2 and 3. The free `longitudinal ends of such integral sheet of material are shown at I6 in Fig. 1 and are secured to each other in the manner described hereinbelow,

'I'he edges of the walls I0, II, I2 and I3 at the front, open end of the casing are reinforced with metallic facings of the type shown in our abovementioned co-pending application. Thus the front edges of the walls I0 and II may be provided with metallic reinforcing members I`I and I8 which are permanently secured to such walls by means of lugs struck from such members and pinched into the body of such walls, as shown at I9. The members I1 and I8 are provided with enlarged loop portions I1' and I 8' within which are disposed the central horizontal portions of two U-shaped locking devices 20 and 2|, the vertical leg portions of such devices being adapted to nt into grooves formed within vertical reinforcing members 22 and 23 attached to the side Walls 12 and I3 respectively. The metallic members 22 and 23 are permanently and non-removably secured to the casing in a manner similar to the horizontal members I1 and I8. We prefer to make the vertical leg members of the locking devices' 2|) and 2| engage eachother when the casing is'in assembled condition as shown at 24 mitted at leastin part by way of such vertical 30 legs to the lower casing of a stack of les. The U-shaped locking devices thus serve not only to reinforce the open end of the casing at the corners thereof, but also to take up part of the vertical loads.

It will be understood that the reinforcing members I'I, I8, 22 and 23 are so positioned and dimensioned that although permanently attached,

they will not interfere with the collapsing and assembling movements of the walls of the casing. So far as possible it is advisable to have the vertical reinforcing members 22 and 23 t Within overlyingy and underlying portions of the horizontal members Il and I8, yso that vertical stresses will be transmitted as much. as possible directly through the vertical facing members 22 l.and '23 and not intermediately through the paper corner portions of the casing. In the embodiment of the invention illustrated on the drawings, the end wall is composed of a panel Il of sheet metal having four anges 25, 26, 2l and 28 extending atright angles from the panel and bent back upon themselves outwardly of the panel, as will be clear from Figs. lland 5. The upper flange 25 is adapted to t over the free rear edge ofthe top wall I0 andispermanent- Y ly secured thereto by means of lugs or tongues 23 (Fig. 5) struck from the body of the anges and pressed into the substance of the wall I0. In' this way the end wall Il is pivoted to the top wall I 3, the swinging movements of the end wall relatively to the top wall being facilitated by grooving or scoring the top wall I3 as shown at 33 (Eig. 5). It will be understood that the top wall is cut away from the side walls to the groove or scoring 32, i. e. is slitted, to permit the pivotal movements of the end wall, as can be seen just to the left of the flange 23 in Fig. 1. A The flanges 23, 21 and 23 are adapted-to fit over yand receive the rearmarginal portions of the 7o I3 may be provided with metal facings or linings to iacilitatethe ensasement'of the flanges 2t. 2171s facing slightly thicker than the width of the space between the two portions of each ange. To insure retention of the end wall in assembled condition, the bottom wall and/or the side walls may be provided with any suitable locking device, such as a metallic tongue 8l which is permanentlypsecured' as shown at 32 to such wall and is adapted to pass through an opening 33 -in the iiange 28, when the latter is moved into its opl outwardly about thegrooved portion 3l! of the` avoiding danger of loss of parts and,fa cilitating erative, assembled condition,`the tongue 3| being then bent over the flange 28 as shown in Fig. 4.

In the collapsed condition of the casing structure described hereinabove, the wall I l is swung top wall Il so as to lie in approximately the plane of such wall, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, while the angle members 28 and 2| take the positions shown in such ilgures. It will be seen that although the casing is reinforced at both the front and rear ends thereof to provide a thoroughly rigid structure in use, it can be readily collapsed; while all of the reinforcing parts are permanently fixed to the main body of such casing, thereby assembly of the casing. Y

In order to make the connection between the' free longitudinal edges I8 of the casing member invisible from the outside of the casing, and especially to make it inaccessible to mice and other vermin when it is made of material likely to be attacked by vermin, such as glued tape, we construct the casing in such manner that the free ends IE are located in the bottom wall ii of the casing. Theseends may then,be connected'by means of tape 84 (Fig. 6) if desired, and there may be used in addition to the tape 34 or in place thereof a strip or plate 35 of sheet metal, from the body of which lugs 36 are struck and forced into the material of the bottom wall, the

protruding ends of the lugs being then struck up against the bottom face of the bottom wall, alll shown at 31 in Fig. 6.

' We have found that' the plate 35 can advantageously be employed as a rail for supporting the drawer member which is to fit within the casing. Although one such plate or rail may, if desired, be employed, in which case the free ends I8 are made to meet in the central longitudinal axis of the bottom wall, we prefer to employ two such rails, one upon each side of said axis. In the preferred illustrated embodiment of the invention one of the rails 35 is employed, either together with or without the tape 34, to connect the free longitudinal ends of the casing; and the second rail 38 is similarly attached to the bottom -wall Il.. 'I'he rails 35 and 38 can thus support the drawer member in stable fashion and serve to space the drawer member from the bottom Il of the casing thereby reducing the friction between the drawer and the casing. It will be understood that the rails 35 and 38 can be given any desired cross-section. In order still further to reduce the friction between the drawer and casing the underside of the drawer may be provided with strips of metal registering with the rails 35 and 38 and adapted to rest thereon. In this way not only is friction between'the parts reduced but wear on the drawer end casing is greatly diminished.`

It will be understood that while I have shown the reinforcing members and 2i in the form of U-members, these elements may be replaced by four L-shaped members or by a single closed rectangular member which may be pivoted upon the member I'I and fit into grooves in the side members 22 and 23 and also into a groove intov the bottom reinforcing member I8. which in suchv case will be constructed similarly tothe reinforcing members 22 and 23.

From the above, it will be. seen that we have provided an improved reinforced storage le casing construction which is characterized by great rigidity and strength and is capable of withstanding even more than the usual loads without buckling. The structure is free ofloose or detached parts,- and as no glued tapes are present or, if present, are not accessible. the casing is completely mice and roach-proof. The casing can be easily manufactured in large quantities and at low cost and combines the strength, rigidity, dustproofness and vermin-proofness of an al1-steel filing construction with the lightness and cheapness of a paperboard structure.

Considerable variations from the specinc details shown herein may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention. As already indicated, the rear end wall may be composed entirely of metal or only partly of metal, but whatever the substance of the central or panel portion of the end wall, I prefer to provide such central portion with a metallic or similarly rigid frame work as represented by the flanges 25 to 28; While these ang are disconnected from each other in the peripheral direction in the embodiment shown on the drawings (see l), they may of course also be continuous, either by suitably connecting the adjacent ends of the anges when constructed in the manner shown on the drawings, or by making the ange structure separate from the main body of the `wall and then attaching it thereto. Thus, the central body portion of the end wall may be composed of paper tol whose marginal sections is attached a rigid continuous frame presenting anges A one of whichvmay be permanently connected toreceive a horizontally movable drawer and comprising top, bottom land side walls of flexible fibrous material and a sheet metal end wall having integral reversely bent iianges extending therefrom and adapted to interengage with the rear marginal end portions of the aforesaid walls, one of said flanges being permanently attached to the rear edge portion of one of said walls and said end wall being adapted to pivot on such wall and to be moved pivotally outwardly in preparation for 'collapse of the casing, said rear edge portion being slitted at its ends to enable said end wall to pivot thereon.

2. A collapsible nie casing adapted to receive a horizontally movable drawer and comprising top, bottom and side walls; and an end wall permanently attached directly to the rear edge portion of one .of the 'aforementioned walls for pivotal movement thereon, said rear edge portion being slitted at its ends to enable the end wall to pivot thereon, means for connecting the end Wall to the rear edge portion of still another wall in the assembled condition of the casing, said end wall including a4 vertically extending reinforcing element forming a permanent part of such wall and acting to take upvertical compressive stresses in the operative condition of the casing, said reinforcing element being movable with the r'ea'r edge portion ofthe associated side walls in thef`erected condition of the casing.

3; A collapsible 111e casing adapted to receive a horizontally movable drawer and comprising top,

bottom and side Walls of-paper material; ya unif tary end wall permanently connected directly to the rear edge portion of one of thetop, bottom 10- and side walls, the sidesofv the latter 'wall beend wall as a unit to collapsed or erectedcondition. and being-of Achannel shape. to receive the mgv 'suited zo enable the ena wan to be moved outwardly of the casing, said end wall including .soL SCHEINMAN JACOB Mmm.' lo' 

